Wanderia
Wanderia is the world's least populous continent in terms of civilized races. Wanderia has been host to the Frostlings, cousins of the Halflings, since the first era. It was once thought Wanderia was completely uninhabited until it was explored in the second era by the renowned adventurer Edgar Barrows. Edgar was also responsible for the continent's grim name, despite the fact that Frostlings referred to it as "Ekkelmuss" (EH-KULL-MUSS). The continent is actually quite beautiful despite how dangerous it is. The ice that covers the ground gives quite a gorgeous gleam when the sun hits it correctly. History In the first era, Wanderia was seen as a sort of no-man's land. The ice-covered plains and mountains were thought to be not only uninhabitable to the races, but overrun with strange and fierce monsters. Many rumors were invented in this time depicting Wanderia as a place of death where only wicked things may happen. Often when criminals disappeared and took to hiding speculators would be quick to bring up the thought that the criminal may have fled to Wanderia. Of course, at this point in time Wanderia was merely referred to as "The Dead Land". The term "Wanderia" didn't become commonly used until the adventurer, Edgar Barrows, explored and mapped part of the continent successfully in the years of 123 - 125 S.E. In these times the only inhabitants of the land were Frostlings. Years later the continent has become home to many different members of the races, though Frostlings are by far the dominant race of the continent. Although Frostlings tended only to dwell around Bay of White Light, there were noteable groups populating the Southwestern part of the continent all the way to the Isle of Dennis's Tears. It should be noted that still none have ever dared travel or map beyond the Mistlands, or much of the other Northern pieces of the continent due to massive creatures roaming the land. It is for this reason the Northern half of Wanderia is usually left off of maps, as there is not much demand to travel there, and if you are travelling there you'll probably be mapping it for yourself. Geography Despite being the least populated continent on Terrene, Wanderia is still the largest continent on the planet. Modern Gnomish geographers estimate Wanderia to be a whopping 20% of Terrene's total surface area. Wanderia rests north of, and touches, the Green Ocean, Vulcan Ocean, and Ocean of Thir's Shadow. Politics Wanderia isn't much of a political place. It is not a land that is visited for its prosperity and bountifulness, and so it is that few to no wars ever touch its surface. And this is quite a good thing, as it is difficult enough to survive in Wanderia without the threat of war. As such the people of Wanderia, the Frostlings, are quite natural diplomats, though they are discerning and cautious at the same time. This diplomatic nature led Wanderians to quickly find a place in the Council of Five. It had not even been a century before a Frostling would be found in the council, making decisions on a world-wide scale from the perspective of a group of people that had not been known to exist before. It is interesting to note that while the Frostlings of Wanderia tend to look down upon slavery, they are not nearly as reactive to it as their cousins, the Halflings. Of course Wanderia has proven to be generally more orderly than Halfling lands, and far less chaotic. Economy Only the larger communities in Wanderia have come to accept gold as currency. In most markets within Wanderia it is impossible to purchase goods through any process other than bartering. One can, however, barter just about anything, as the people of Wanderia can generally put just about anything to use. Be warned, if you try and barter your gold for items you will never get your money's worth, as they are simply shiny rocks to the Frostlings. Transportation The only forms of long-range transportation across Wanderia (aside from travel by foot) are teleportation, and the Great Mammoth Cabs. These are basically just large taxi booths set on towering great mammoths that can carry dozens of people at a time. These mammoths are an old and well-networked transportation system across Wanderia. Only the largest cities in Wanderia have capable teleportation services. There is also a rather interesting transportation service in the Bay of White Light where one could travel in the belly of a zombified whale if they are not the sort to be offended by necromancy. Demographics Language The main language of Wanderia is a dialect of Halfling known as Frostling. The two languages are far similar than they are different, containing the same basic grammatical structure aside from a few rules added into Frostling over time. It's interesting to note that the sister languages kept different words from ancient Halfling which the other has replaced over time. This has led to some stumped translators when they are unfamiliar with ancient first era Halfling. There are many words that are spelled and pronounced differently between the two languages but ultimately the two cousin races can understand the meaning the other is getting at most of the time. Frostling even has different dialects of its own that consist of slight variations throughout the different towns and villages littered through the Southwest of Wanderia. Typical Member of the Six Worship of the Wanderer is perfectly acceptable in Wanderia. Necromancy is actually sometimes used as a means of survival, using the dead as laborers to solve problems within a village. Whether an army is needed to fight a monster off, dig something out, or unblock snow-covered passes, the dead are not off-limits when coming to a solution. Some towns and villages are relaxed enough about their necromancy to use the undead to fish with, having an animated corpse dive into freezing water and toss fish onto the shore. This process has actually come to be called "Rot-Trawling", as some have teams of undead swipe up fish off the bottom of a lake just like one would trawl with a net. One would, however, be hard pressed to find much rot-trawling in one of the larger established communities that have mixed-cultures within it, as Frostlings realize that other nations see this as disrespectful to the dead. In addition to the Wanderer, other more typical members of the six are worshiped as well in Wanderia, and in fact are for the most part worshiped equally alongside the Wanderer. Philosophies There is a large consensus among Wanderians that exposing yourself to extremely frigid conditions whilst wearing little for protection makes you stronger spiritually. Monks, Druids, and many other groups within Wanderia use this as a form of training. This process of freezing oneself to attain higher spiritual presence has come to be known as Cryo-Bodhi or "Knowledge of Cold". A rather controversial cultural philosophy known as "Corpus Amare" or "Body Love" involves raising one's deceased lover from the grave to have sexual relations with them as an animated corpse. This was perfectly acceptable in Wanderian society until the rest of the world put pressure on the continent to cease. There are noted cases of paladins that travel the Wanderian plains of ice simply searching for villages that openly practice necromancy and burning them down in the name of that which is natural and good. Wanderians have placed high bounties on these individuals.